you just said?

"My girlfriend is a critical care nurse. Practically every day she works, she sees terminally ill patients receiving expensive care that they don't need, that at best will grant them another few months or years of catatonia. A system based on money encourages doctors and hospitals to keep up this crap; a single-payer government system would have the power to curtail it."

-- nick_r

Put another way, "a single-payer government system would have the power to end your life when they see fit".

Man, you seem to be an intelligent guy, so why-o-why do you want to give the government more power over you? The power of life or death for you? It is this way in England. I have first hand knowledge of this. We have a friend who is a Brit immigrant. She has an aged mother who can get no treatment of any significance that is not associated with an emergency need, because a younger, more productive person needs it more!

You are correct that care is often provided that is a huge waste (I work for the largest health care provider in the region I live in - and I see the data), but the last person I would want making that decision is the freaking government. The only reason people get care beyond reason is that there is money to provide it. Take away that incentive, and yes, things would change.

Here's how to do it: you let the payors (insurures) and the providers (doctors) battle it out. BTW that is the way that it is being done today. This is why insurers are so often vilified. Now, let me ask you, who do you think would be more sensitive to being vilified? Some bureaucrat, who could care less about what you think of him, or an insurance company that is vying, yes vying for your company's business? Do you know that health plans compete with one another for your business? Do you know the real reason people are getting care beyond (what you or I think) is reasonable? Because the insurance company wants you to like them! If we complain loudly enough that insurance costs too much, they will stop spending as much as they do on catatonic patients. Case in point: we complained loud and long about HMO's and the plans discontinued them. There were not forced to do so by the government. So really we are the bad guys! Yes we, the free market.

Go figure,

Poco

more than enough conspiracy theories for every fruitcake in existence. What makes you think you actually know anything? Oh, I forgot your brilliant mind. Everyone is a bogey man, except the ones you like.

Poco

"Along with hunting groups like Gun Owners of California, they argue that efforts to restrict hunters' use of lead bullets in the condors' range are nothing less than the first shots in a battle to ban hunting in California altogether."

So, whose fault do you think all that suspicion is? Not the NRA's. When you threaten people's rights repeatedly, steadfastly, ignorantly, and vehemently, you can expect some deep rooted suspicion. Why don't the conservationists have a little chat with the ignorant anti-gun zealots? They might tell them that their rabid and illogical stand is making life far more difficult for the Condor than it is for the NRA. You should retitle this article Anti Gun vs. the Condor. I don't think the NRA has anything against these birds.

Here's an interesting idea. The conservationists should join the NRA and support gun ownership and hunting rights. Then perhaps the NRA would not be quite as suspicious. Remember, there are more gun owners and hunters than conservationists, and that is what really concerns the Terminator.

Poco

They are just so wise.

Check out the "Ocean View Five".

http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=133274&ran=187594&tref=po

I'll bet Jackson and Sharpton don't say a peep about this one, cuz the truth is plain to see. Racism. It's everyone's favorite passtime. Let's go find a cracker to kick the crap out of.

And some ask "do you think this is racially motivated?" Duh!

Poco

it can't be racial! Everyone knows that only white people are racially biased. Do you know that it is a common belief among many blacks? That because blacks are not in the majority, that it is impossible for them to be racist. You think I'm kidding? Do some research. Let's hear from you Keef!

All newscasters also have trouble with pronounciation. I have a communications degree, and we studied the international phonetic alphabet. It is the same as the one used to provide pronunciation in the dictionary (or very similar to it). Contrary to popular belief (including mine at one time), Bush it not quite as stupid as he sounds, but it is fun to beat up on him.

glamorous, exciting, and well, just wholesome. Wouldn't it be great if everyone was homosexual? Hmmm, wait. That would mean the extinction of the human race in one generation. Oh, well. Anything for the cause.

if for no other reason than that the guy is a massive creep! So should everyone else. Underneath whatever persona he presents publicly is an individual deeply steeped in evil. No one, and I mean no one that deserves broad based public support would act as cruelly as he has acted toward those to whom he has sworn a solemn oath to stay with "till death do us part" and to his own children. What little evidence of his depravity that makes it's way into the public arena is just the telltale sign of vast reserves not seen. Those fools that think he is "generally a nice guy" are fools indeed. He is a monster's monster.

Does that even matter anymore? Just remember, he has no reason in the world to treat you more honorably than he has treated his own family. If it were a choice between him or Hillary (another monster), I would simply not vote.

Poco